My county (San Joaquin County) is one of the state of California’s worst hit counties and it earns us a placement on the purple list of the COVID watchlist meaning extremely high transmission rate and near complete lockdown. With that being said, is it worth it to spend time prepping for an SAT Subject Test that is going to be cancelled, due to the circumstance given?
Were you planning on taking it very soon? If so, probably not.
Subject Tests are typically taken in May/June at the end of the relevant coursework. My D has a plan to take the Chemistry ST, but won’t start prepping until at least Feb/March - a lot can change by then. Hopefully.
October 3. I’m also a senior if that changes anything.
No one here has a working crystal ball. We certainly don’t want to tell you not to study and then hear your test is on… it is happening.
If you were studying for the SAT it would be a little safer to say, yes, do study. And I can’t think of any college that is still requiring subject tests. Surely in this time of national crisis, AP scores are sufficient, if they’re even looking at those.
So I guess it comes down to how much free time you have on your hands. Are you e-learning and doing well? First semester senior year grades are going to be very important to colleges. It is best to prioritize them. Are your college applications moving along well? Do you have essays you’re proud to share? Do they sell you to the college and show the qualities the college is looking for? Do they show you are a match?
You get the idea… put your big rocks (those things most important to you) in your jar first. Then fill it with the small rocks, pebbles and sand. Right now the subject tests are pebbles. If you have time, give them some attention. But take care of the big stuff first, the stuff that will make a difference regardless of covid.
Best of luck to you.
@Groundwork2022 Thanks so much! Yeah my county probably won’t reopen. Just today for example, we have 252 new cases and 16 new deaths. That isn’t a county that’s on track to reopen.
I am probably going to focus on bringing up my AP Chem grade (right now I’m barely making an 81%) and my apps.
I do not think any college is requiring subject tests. My D21 was going to take them last month, and was debating whether she should study or not, thinking it will be canceled. End the end she choose not to study, the test was not canceled and she did not take it. I am not sure it makes much difference in her situation, she is a good test taker, she has an good ACT, AP & PSAT scores only two schools she is applying required the subject test last year.
If you think the subject test would add to your application it might be worth it.
@alamere. I agree with @AOP1925 - check to see if any schools you are considering are still requiring or recommending subject tests. If there are any at all, they are probably very few. Some schools like Yale won’t even consider the subject tests for this admissions cycle.
If you’re determined to try to take them, take a practice test and see how close you are to your target score. If you know the material well, “studying” might be a matter of refreshing your memory, not time consuming review.
There are a grand total of zero US colleges requiring Subject Tests this year. A very small number will consider if sent. Several, including MIT, Yale, Caltech, Swarthmore, Harvey Mudd, that used to require ir recommend them will not even consider them. For those few that will consider thdm, a strong score may help. But it won’t help if done at the expense if grades or essays IMO.